Different types of arrangements have been proposed for ginning seed cotton. In one type of ginning apparatus described in U.S Pat. No. 4,441,232, which is assigned to the assignee herein, a plurality of first rollers are rotatably driven in a continuous path. At least one nip roller is positioned in abutting relation to the first rollers on the side of the continuous path opposite to the side that receives the seed cotton. A suction source acting through a suction duct draws air between adjacent first rollers from the side of the first rollers opposite to the side that receives the seed cotton. The suction source tends to draw at least a portion of the fiber fraction from the seed cotton between adjacent first rollers. The seed cotton moves in conjunction with the first rollers as the first rollers move in their continuous path and the fiber fraction drawn in by the suction source is nipped by the nip roll as the drawn in fiber fraction contacts the nip roll. The extended fiber fraction that is nipped by the nip roll is then removed from the apparatus through the suction duct.
Although the apparatus disclosed in the aforementioned patent is quite effective in removing fiber fractions from the seed cotton, that apparatus is susceptible of certain improvements. For example, it has been found through experimentation with the aforementioned ginning apparatus that the suction source which draws fiber fractions from the seed cotton also tends to hold the seed cotton against the first rollers in the same position that the seed cotton originally assumes when it is initially deposited on the first rollers. Consequently, as the seed cotton is carried along by the first rollers, the apparatus tends to remove fiber fractions from the same side of the seed cotton, namely the side of the seed cotton that is in contact with or closely adjacent to the first rollers. Thus, the portion of the fibers on the seed cotton that are not in contact with or located closely adjacent to the first rollers tend to remain on the seed cotton and are not drawn into the ginning apparatus by the suction force.
While it may be possible to increase the suction force in an attempt to draw the remaining fibers between the first rollers so that they can be nipped and removed by the nip rolls, such a solution may not be economically justifiable and may result in certain disadvantages. For instance, if the suction force is too great, the fiber fractions removed from the seed cotton may be removed in undesirably large clumps.
In light of the foregoing discovery relating to the aforementioned ginning apparatus, it would be desirable to provide the aforementioned ginning apparatus with an arrangement that would reorient the position of the seed cotton on the first rollers in order to help ensure that the fibers which are not in contact with or closely adjacent to the first rollers as the seed cotton is initially deposited on the first rollers will, nevertheless, be removed through operation of the ginning apparatus. In that way, all or substantially all of the fibers on the individual locks of seed cotton will be removed, thereby increasing the operating efficiency of the ginning apparatus and precluding the need for directing the seed cotton back to the ginning apparatus for further ginning.